Something Old, Something New... and a Giveaway

Something old, something new....
(in honor of the Royal Wedding)
something borrowed, something blue.

The old is me! My blog is 2 years old now !
And I have started my 4th year of reading blogs.

I wish this little house was mine, but it is Mary's...

I would like to introduce you to her blog Molly Flanders if you haven't already met.

I found this blog a month or so ago and I just love visiting. I thought you might also!

Maybe she will let me "borrow" this sweet little pincushion.

Since even before I started blogging I have found the most incredible women who inspire me on a daily basis in the blogosphere.

There are several that are on my sidebar but there are far more that I follow and then there is a whole other group that I have marked as favorites on my computer: Categorized in folders A-G, H-L, M-Z, then quilt shops category, prim section, Aussie group... the lists go on and on.

I also have a love for home design and I have a googleplex of favorite blogs that pertain to that.

I mostly don't comment on those blogs... just look and listen and soak it all in!

But some of the blogs I love to read, daily, every morning, for the past few years

 (and are probably ones you visit too)are:

Stina, who I would most like to be like when I grow up!

Kim who can tell a story like no other!

Nicole, who is amazingly articulate and prolific.

Jen who was both, my first bloggy friend and swap partner.

Sherri, who is incredibly talented and loves all the same things I do.

(I'm sure we have matching sewing rooms)

Thelma, who if I could, follow around like a puppy dog to watch what she does next!

Mary of Quilt Hollow is an amazingly amazing long arm quilter as well as a wonderful piecer.

I want to thank you all for  sharing your creativity, so today, my 300th post and celebrating 2 years

of being a member of blogville, makes it a perfect time for a giveaway!

(this is the "something new" part)

I love this book -lots of wonderful projects in it!

and here is something "blue"...

a little camera bag to go with the book.

So now you need to know what to do:

(here's when you say "I Do")

1. Share a favorite blog link with me, as your comment.

2. For a second chance to win, become a follower

(or let me know if you already are)

The giveaway will end on Mother's Day.

I will pick a winner on Monday May 9th,

(which happens to be the hubs birthday)!

Congratulations to the Royal Couple...

and good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway!

And, And, And

This would look so great in my bedroom...

unfortunately it is not mine.

Donna from Bear Paw Quilts just finished this sweet quilt.

I love the scallops and if you look closely you can see that the lights are

log cabin blocks... modified.

And

I am nearly finished with my butterfly quilt.

I had asked on a previous post whether or not to make it larger...

it had been only 3 rows but with wider columns in between.

I did decide to go bigger.  (When in doubt always go bigger).

I like it better now. But it still needs an outer border on it.

I'm going to go with a black tonal for the outer border.

And

In a couple of weeks my quilt guild will be having a quilt show.

I am in charge of getting donations and making up raffle baskets for

the show. I have been so stressed out over it!

Unfortunately this year has been horrible for getting response from

companies. I sent out the same number of letters requesting a donation for our show...

 as I had 2 years ago, for our last show (60 to be precise).

In 2009 I had gotten about a 20 percent response from companies which I thought was

pretty good. I was able to make 8 baskets from the items that were sent.

This time I got 5 responses total.

I know that the economy is poor and that you can't expect the same companies to

give time after time.

 I am so grateful for the people who did send items.

Bunny Hill has always been extremely generous and so has Amy Butler.

Fig Tree and Co. was wonderful and sent a donation to me this year also along with Fat Quarter Shop.

Moda just sent a little something too!

What is really  great-- is that this time, the different "circles" within our guild

 got together and made up sweet little

baskets that we can raffle off at the show. I am so relieved,

I thought I might have to resort to raffling off my husband  stash!

Here is one with a table runner and some picnic type items.

Another one with a picnic theme... love the ants!

This one is a garden theme. It is filled with fat quarters of floral fabrics,

a table topper and even comes with a gnome!

This one has a garden theme as well... and blogger did not

cooperate with me... so you will have to turn your heads to view the picture.

People have been stopping by my office dropping them off for me, so I can package them up nicely

and prepare them for the show. I have several more at home ... one of them has an Italian dinner theme including a black and white quilt and a bottle of wine! The girls all were creative and certainly were

a godsend! I think the raffle baskets will be a successful part of the quilt show after all!

Shew! And I get to keep my husband!

And.... Now for my newsflash...

This is a new book by Carrie that will be released at the end of September.

Did you all already know about this???  If you did, then it's only a newsflash for me!

Mosaic Monday

Aren't these amazing? These are playhouses. Seriously. I think anyone of them would make a great sewing studio.  Even the kitchens are to scale. They cost in the range of 8-10 thousand.
I wonder if the parents of these lucky children would like to "adopt"???

Grab Your Gun and Glue and Let's Go!

This week is my blogiversary! Happy #2 to me!
Unfortunately I have been a

bit under the weather with the flu (yuk) and I wasn't able

 to get a giveaway together in time.

So I thought I would do a little discriptive tutorial for you

instead.

But I am only a few posts away from the big 300, so a giveaway will

be happening by the first of the month! Stay tuned!

I made up a  Applique Work Station

that has a dual purpose.

The backside has a surface to trace on and a fine sandpaper surface for a

applique drawing area. The top side is a

pressing area for starch applique.

This might be useful to you when you attend a class or even in your sewing room.

The total cost for this project was under $5.

 

 Here is what you need:

1  12" square of plywood from the lumber store

(they had a scrap at the lumber store that they cut and gave me for FREE)

1 fat quarter of fabric/from stash

1/3 yd of laminated fabric/purchased

scrap of batting/from stash

1 sheet of very fine sandpaper/purchased

a staple gun

2 velcro self adhering circles/from stash

spray glue

 This is the finished top side of my original pressing board.

 This is the back side of the board. A smooth surface and it covers your

sandpaper surface used for drawing out your applique pieces.

Now, to start the project:

 I used 2 pieces of batting.

Cut one 12" square.

Cut the second one 13" square.

I sprayed glue on the board and then placed the

 12" square on top of my board. Then

place the larger piece of batting on top of that so that the sides go over the edges of the board.

No need to spray glue to make the second piece of batting to stick. It will stay in place.

Next:

Cut your fat quarter of fabric into an 18" square.

With the wrong side up, place the board, batting side down facing the fabric.

Fold the edges over nicely to the backside of your board and staple in place.

The folding is a little tricky. I folded the fabric in at the side of the board and

then folded over to the back.

Make sure it is pulled nice and tight for a smooth surface on top.

(if you prefer, you could always glue it in place... either way works fine)

(this pic is of the new board we are working on)

Cut a piece of the laminated fabric 13" by 12".

Place at the top of your board.

(determine what will be your top of the board by

placing the sandpaper on the back of the board and

make sure which way it covers the fabric best)

Fold under 1" and staple in place along the top edge.

I used a paper

crafting knife to give the laminated fabric

 a creased edge at the top..

Next you will position the velcro circles that hold the laminated fabric in place.

Lay the laminated fabric back over to determine exactly

where you will be placing the velcro circles,nearest the bottom corners of the board.

Well, since they are white you can't really make them out.

But you get the idea.

The last thing you need to do is to cover the fabric on the back of your board by

placing the sheet of sandpaper over it.

Spray glue on the back side of the sandpaper and quickly center it on

the back of your board.

 

There you go! It's light, functional and travels well!

Come back for my 300th post giveaway!

Relationships and Confessions

I wanted to thank Thelma and Nicole for hosting the Eventide Quilt Along!

It was a lot of fun to make this quilt with a support group!

Smokey in the Netherlands aka  Judith made a wonderful Eventide quilt using Christmas reds and greens.

She had a little contest to "name" her quilt... and I won the contest!

I suggested Winter's Eve and she liked it!

And this is what I won!

The new fabric group from Fig Tree & Co.

Yumm!

Speaking of Eventide...

remember mine?

I actually renamed the quilt Dear John.

Well, after I kicked that quilt to the curb like an old boyfriend...

it seems a friend of mine took a liking to him.

The quilt will soon hang at the LQS and, believe it or not, I am going to teach a class

in Eventide!

Well, I guess it has a happy ending after all! hehe

I know there has been a lot of talk about

special relationships on blogs lately

and ...

I have a confession to make.

My love affairs with patterns goes without saying.

I am a bit of a hoarder...

I love my "designers" and they have always treated me well.

Nothing is better than when they keep the relationship fresh and new...

you know what I'm talking about, right?

I can count on a refreshing of the relationship every Spring and Fall.

Sure there is a price to pay, but it gives me so much satisfaction!

And the same is true for my love affairs with a few "certain" men in my life.

It's true, I have had a love interest with Michael Miller and

a long one with Henry Glass too. Sure, I guess you can say I got around.

I'm not ashamed to admit it!

But that was in the past...

Now I have an affair going with Mr. M. You know, the big "M".

 (is there a font for sarcasim)

In fact, I enjoy the company of Mr. M every day and

every

night!

Yes, it's true, I sleep with Mr. M... I'm talking about Moda.

I mean really.

and not only is all my bedding Moda

my pajamas are too!

A girl couldn't be happier...

Have a great weekend...

I will have a surprise for you next week!

Decisions, Decisions

Tomorrow I have to have my entry information filled out for our local quilt guild's quilt show next month. Since I never found my houses for my Yoyoville quilt and got that, or the others I has been thinking about  finished... I had to go to a plan B.
I can actually enter 3 quilts into the show and these are the ones I am thinking about putting in.

The Dresden wedding quilt for Todd & Jill.

(if they will let me snag it back)

And this one...

 

Maybe one of these...

 Summer Cottages .

Twist and Turn .

Crossroads.

Sweet Dreams.

Probably not this one...

Madeline.

Please help me decide.

Mosaic Monday and Other Spring Quilts

I can't believe that I haven't posted in almost a week! After 80 degree temps...
we had more winter storms, trees down and power outages.
This time at my house too. *g*
Enough already!
So here's looking forward to Spring:




A little sampling of Grandma's Flower Garden quilts.

I just started playing with the little hexies... I know, I'm a little
behind on what is going on. I always loved these quilts and now
 I have a whole new appreciation for them!
I can tell you that this is not the project for you if you have a need for speed!

My friend Mel stopped by with another one of

her beautiful projects.

I have been wanting to make this quilt from

Cindy's book: Flower Pots.

It would be a great Spring quilt!

Here is a raggy quilt that I had made and came back to me last week for a minor repair.

So I thought I would take a picture of it while I had it.

I had originally had made it for myself but it became a shop sample and then when I brought it home...

my sister had been over and "borrowed" it to show her DIL...

and as it turned out,  she declared it a birthday present for herself. 

I think it has been well loved while it's been away.

Here is a little project I started. Fun floral dresses made from

Sugar Flower fabrics.

And then I made my way back to my butterfly quilt.

Remember when I couldn't decide about this one?

I posted about it here.

I decided that if I added two more rows that it would be a better size. It would actually turn out square.

So all I needed was 56 more of these guys!

Eventide Finale'- As In: I'm Done

I guess I am at the tail end of the parade of Eventide quilts!

But here it is-- Eventide, all completed.

I was talking to a quilting friend in Oregon over the weekend and

describing this quilt to her and what a challenge it was for me.

I called it my Dear John quilt.

Dear "Eventide",

We have been in this relationship for a while now and I have to tell you that it has been very stressful for me.

I think this relationship has ran it's course.

It's not you!

It's me.

Please believe me when I tell you that you are a wonderful pattern, with lots of depth and character,

written well, and in fact it felt like your creator was right there sewing along with me.

The problem is that I found you very challenging. Every inch of the way.

So I need to say it's over now- we need to go our separate ways-

don't call me!

*
*
*
Now on to other things...

This is Pure and simple.

Just what a girl needs to relax and enjoy and spend a few quite evenings with.

You help me decompress!

That's all I'm asking for.

 (right now anyway)

Endless Summer Parade Winners

I hope everyone enjoyed the parade yesterday!

I personally enjoyed not only making this Endless Summer pattern, but also seeing every one's version of it.

I guess I have to make a couple more of the same to try out some of your ideas!

We have some nice prizes from our featured quilt shops for our parade winners (randomly chosen)!

First of all Pam was very generous for our group- thank you Pam! 

We have two sets of patterns from Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts!

The winner chosen from Sherri's parade is: Amanda from Little Miss Quilter blog!!!

The winner chosen from my parade is: Edith at Red Door Quilting!!!!

Congratulations! These patterns look like a lot of fun!!!

The lucky winner of a $15 gift certificate from Quilters' Paradise is:

from Quilted Delights blog: Leah!

Corrie at Quilt Taffy is offering a sweet gift certificate for their on-line store:

And the winner is: Sandie from Qrazy Bout Quilts!

Bear Paw Quilts and more is offering a nice little Moda Charm Squares that are just in!

The Dragonfly Summer by Holy Taylor.

and our parade winner for the charm squares is:
Carol from Carol's Crafty Creations. Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to the prize winners and a big thank you to Pam and all of our featured quilt shops!